Sunday, October 14, 2007

Charm City Credit Card Meltdown, or Knitting is the new D and D...

I was only in attendance at Stitches East from Thursday evening to Friday afternoon. But this period of less than 24 hours still permitted me to hear Kaffe Fassett talk about his newest book, take a very challenging 'Argyle Socks in the Round class', and do some major damage in the Marketplace area. But first, an observation: it strikes me that these knitting events are really no different from gaming conventions when it comes down to it. Instead of playing D and D or World of Warcraft, we are knitters, and this gives us instant rapport with one another. So when sitting down next to a stranger, instead of asking "Which wizard of the Netherworld kingdom are you?" we ask , "Oh wow is that the Swallowtail?" and then a meaningful, shorthand conversation ensues, one which would be virtually unintelligible to someone on the outside because of the specificity of our jargon. It was kind of fascinating to be present at an event where everyone was so focused on the one single purpose that happens to be my own own single purpose. It was exciting, but there was also a touch of bad teenager alienation as well, as while I love yarn with every fiber of my being (hehe), I am not prepared to be seen wheeling around a suitcase on wheels for it, nor will I ever wear any buttons in public, ever.

Kaffe Fassett, rhymes with 'safe asset':First of all, what a huge relief that he doesn't have a fake British accent, even though he's been living in England a lot longer than Madonna. He talked about how seeing something like a stack of oil barrels in Portugal motivated him to do a painting, which became a gigantic tapestry, and then a series of smaller needlepoint canvasses. A small motif from the canvasses then showed up in a Rowan sweater, which then mutated and became something else. At one point someone from the audience asked if he steeked his work, and replied that he had never heard this word before and had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. This really made me realize that more than being a hardcore knitter, he is a practitioner of color. He told the audience that when knitting "...I really need to see a motif appear before lunch, that's just how I see the world" and that sock knitting was the most tedious thing he could think of. He also recounted a hilarious anecdote about being on a British radio show. He brought the hostess a tea cozy with a rooster motif on it, which caused her to exclaim "I am sitting here next to Kaffe Fassett and his glorious cock!". Yeah, I love this guy.Argyle Socks in the Round:Dipshit over here never knew that argyle always had to be done flat and that doing it in the round was thought to be unthinkable at one point. Our teacher, Suzann Thompson, was truly patient and nice and did an admirable job of helping all of us with her technique, which was somewhat difficult. Despite her expert help, my sock basically looks like our cat threw up some Cascade 220. I can't say that I rushed home to complete my sock as it was frustrating and did push me to my limits (which is what a class should do), but I will pick it up again at some point. She is an excellent teacher and I recommend taking a class with her if you can.

Marketplace Damage Report:First off, I was glad to see certain yarns in person so as to diminish their hype factor and thus prevent buying them sight unseen. Lisa Souza and Interlacements were pretty enough, but I was not overly enthralled by them and most likely won't be jumping on their bandwagons. No matter that I have many, many skeins of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock residing untouched in my stash, the inexorable pull of their booth took over, yarn gluttony kicked in, and I bought some more (pictured above). I also came home with more than a few skeins of Tess Super Socks and Baby yarn (first pictured below), which after the STR prices felt like a screaming deal at $15/skein. I was perhaps most excited about the Shelridge Farm booth--their yarn is unbelievably soft and the colors were stunning (last two pictures below). Also, they're Canadians which makes them just plain nicer than everyone else.All told, Baltimore really was the Charm City for me, and I recommend attending this event to anyone who has the inclination, cash and time. I ended my visit at the location pictured below, which was the perfect, sweet ending to my jaunt:

40 comments:

Your yarn collection rocks - literally! Glad you had such a great time, I had to read the story about the "glorious cock" several times...I was thinking "did I just read that?" - bu God I did - what a great laugh!

I agree about being able to see things in person. I have fallen prey to the podcast hype of a dyer or supplier only to feel kinda duped when said item arrived. Interlacements is hit or miss for me. I scoured their entire booth at Stitches this year and nada. The other night I strolled into my LYS and bam!, two gorgeous skeins leapt into my hands.

Am I being completely oblivious when I ask why an argyle couldn't be knit in the round? I mean--it's just intarsia, right? Or no?

Anyhoo, this post cracked me up because I was just giving a dear friend grief about his World of Warcraft addiction, but checked myself before I wrecked myself when I remembered that I was just as dorky, only in a different way. Oh, subcultures.

2 things: 1. thanks for the nice comment about Canadians... I try to live up to the "nice" standard as much as possible!

2. I totally would have (and actually did until reading this) that argyle should be done in the round... especially on socks, but in general too.

Finally (I guess a 3rd thing), despite living in Charm City, I attempted to stay away from Stitches this year... only a couple more hours to go. I'd love to be I just can't afford to buy more yarn right now!

Really missed you after you left! Class just wasn't the same. Just so you know, you were not the only one that left a little early. It was very intense and the muscles between my shoulderblades didn't relax until the 2nd Margarita that night.

I totally agree about the fake British accent. I don't think I could have listened to him if he had had it.

I hope we meet again sometime. It was really great meeting you face to face!

It looks like you had an awesome time! What fun. It just occurred to me that there should be booths of yarn at academic conferences and conventions. And we could land jobs by demonstrating how well we can knit and listen and talk and teach at the same time.

ROFLMAO about the Kaffe Fassett and the rooster story!! OMG. Sounds like he was extremely entertaining! There was SEVERE credit card meltage going on this Saturday for me as well. If this gives you any idea of the carnage, Jim's task for today is to take pictures of all my finds. (Wouldn't you just love his job? LOL)

Sounds like a really interesting experience. Nice yarn haul too! Is it possible to get the info. on the circular argyles anywhere other than the class? I would really love to know how to do them in the round instead of flat!

Holy crap, I've just had a window into what it might be like for me at Rhinebeck: the suitcase-toting, button-sporting over-achievers, the deep and meaningful conversations with complete strangers, the incontrollable urges to whip out my credit card to buy stuff I'd set out not to buy, the need to refuel with gourmet cupcakes once it's all over.

I have always pronnounced Kaffe Fassett's first name as 'cafe' I feel the fool now eh? Great haul, and I'm really impressed by how much you fit into the day.

I missed your hypothetical question (can see it on bloglines) hope you got it answered though - I'm actually having some trouble with my ssl, I hate the yarn and I wouldn't want to put anyone else through it, so I may have to find more yarn and start anew - &*^$ing bollocks!

The playground that is Stitches East...a beautiful thing. Thank you for the pronunciation bit, very useful, I won't even share how I pronounced it, I am sure no one else is as linguistically stupid as I.

Me so jealous! I love that STR too :) And thanks for the fill-in on how to pronounce Kaffe Fassett! I've been saying it wrong in my head for a *really* long time now.... I bet his cock was amazing - hee hee. Glad you had such a great time!

Knitting it totally grown up D&D for the (largely) double-X chromosome set. I was quiet the other night and Alex asked me, "Talk to me--what are you thinking about?" I answered, "Gauge." Which is roughly equivalent to, "Who would win, gandalf or Obi Wan?"

Maybe next year I'll make it to Stitches East. Too bad it's scheduled so close to Rhinebeck. I don't think my bank account could take a double hit like that! What a fun and funny time you had! Great yarn too!